Running-gear for vehicles.



W. N. MECKLA'N.

RUNNING GEAR FOR VEHICLES.

(Application filed Nov. '7, 1901.)

No. 708,488. Patented Se t. 2, 1902.

(No Model.)

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WALTER N. MEOKLAN, OF OLEAN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE MEOKLAN WAGON COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RUNNING-GEAR FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 708,488, dated September 2, 1902.

Application filed November 7, 1901. Serial No; 81,456. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, WALTER N. MECKLAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Olean, in the county of Gattaraugus and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Running-Gear for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in running-gear for vehicles.

The object ofthe present invention is to improve the construction of running-gear for wagons and to provide a simple and comparatively inexpensive construction adapted to strengthen the front portion of the runninggear and brace the tongue against lateral movement to reduce the whipping action of the latter to a minimum.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of I parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view 0 a portion of a running-gear constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, the front axle being shown in rear elevation. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4 4 of 0 Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the means for relieving the pivot of the tongue of strain, the straps or bars being separated to illustrate the construction more clearly.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a front axle, provided at its ends with axle-skeins and a connecting tiebar constructed as shown and described in 0 application, Serial No. 66,381, filed by me on or about the 2d day of July, 1901. The front axle hasmounted upon it front hounds 24:, which are interposed between the front axle and a sand-board or bolster 25. The sandboard or bolster is secured to the front axle by means of clips 27, which are approximately U-shaped, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings, and which pass through the front hounds. The clips also engage arms 28 of a lower member 29 of the fifth-wheel, and the said lower member is companying drawings.

provided with a depending front portion 30, extending downward to the front axle and provided with upper and lower perforations receiving upper and lower fastening devices which secure the depending front-portion of the lower member of the fifth-wheel to the sand-board or bolster and to the front axle. The lower member of the fifth-wheel is also provided with upper and lower eyes 31 and 32, arranged in alinement and located in ad- Vance of the front axle and adapted to receive a king-bolt 33, which connects and pivots the upper member 34 of the fifth-wheel to the lower member. The lower. member is 6 provided at its upper eye With a tubular extension surrounding the king-bolt and extendingiuto a corresponding recess of an eye 35 of the upper member, which consists of an approximately horizontal plate provided with upwardly-extending flanges 36. The flanges 36 are perforated for the reception of bolts or other suitable fastening devices which pass through the bolster 37, as clearly illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the ac- The lower member of the fifth-wheel is provided at its upper face with a curved bearing-face 38 to receive the upper member, and the arms 28 extend laterally from the top of the lower member.

The hounds are connected at their rear ends by a curved bar 39 and are supported by curved bracing-bars 40, located at opposite sides of the front portion of the running-gear and extending from the front portion of the hounds to the rear ends thereof and supported between their ends by the sand-board or bolster. The front end of the curved bracingbars 40 are bent downward and extended forward, forming L-shaped arms 40 and the rear ends of the curved bracing-bars are extended downward and are reduced and threaded to form integral bolts'40 The rear arms 40 are provided with shoulders arranged at the upper faces of the hounds, and the bolts 5 40", which pass through the hounds, are provided at the lower faces thereof with suitable nuts. The shoulders formed by reducing the arms 40 to form the bolts 40* fit against plates 40, which are arranged at the upper faces of the hounds, at the rear ends thereof. The

front portions of thehoundsare also supported by short curved braces 41,extendin g forwardly from the front axle and secured to the same by vertical fastening devices. The front ends of the short curved braces are secured by suitable fastening devices to the side faces of the front hounds, near the front ends thereof, at points considerably in advance of the pivot of the tongue 42, whereby the tongue is supported against lateral movement to reduce the whipping of the same to a minimum. The tongue 42 is provided with blocks or side pieces 43 and is arranged between and pivoted to the front portions of the hounds by a transverse rod 44, passing through the said parts. The transversely-disposed bar 39 is adapted to support a reach of the ordinary construction, and the said reach (not shown) extends forward through the opening 52 of the depending portion of the lower member of the fifthwheel and is connected to the front portion of the running-gear by the king-bolt.

In order to relieve the transverse rod of strain, the blocks 43 and the front portions of the hounds are provided with metal bars and straps 45 and 46, secured to the adjacent side edges of the parts and provided with opposite enlargements 47 and 48. The metal straps or bars 45 and 46 conform to the configuration of the blocks or pieces and the front portions of the front hounds and are suitably secured to the same, and the straps or bars of the front hounds are extended rearward on the outer edges of the same as well as on the inner edges. The enlargement 47 of the strap or bar 45 is provided with a perforated rounded portion 50, and the enlargement 48 of the strap or bar 46 is provided with a curved bearing-recess 51, which receives the rounded knuckle portion of the enlargement 47, and by this construction the straps or bars are interlocked and the pivot-rod is relieved of strain and the blocks or pieces of the tongue and the front portions of the hounds are reinforced. The hounds are also supported by lower braces 53, secured at their ends to the hounds by front and rear vertical bolts 54 and 55. The front bolts 54 also pass through the front arms 40 of the curved braces 40, and the rear bolt 55 passes through the plate 40. The bottom braces 53 extend downward from the hounds in advance and in rear of the front axle and extend beneath the latter and are perforated for the reception of the clips 27.

It will be seen that the running-gear possesses great strength, durability, and efficiency and that it is adapted for all kinds of wagons.

What I claim is 1. The combination of an axle, a bolster, front hounds, a tongue pivoted between the front hounds, metal straps or bars secured to the front hounds and to the tongue and detachably interlocked and permitting the tongue to swing upward and downward on its pivot, the curved braces supported by the bolster and extending .in advance and in rear of the same and secured at their front ends to the hounds, adjacent to the pivot of the tongue, the rear ends of the braces terminating in vertical bolts extending through the hounds, the transverse connecting-bars secured to the hounds by the bolts of the curved braces, the bottom braces also secured to the hounds by the said bolts, and the side braces extending from the axle to the front ends of the hounds and secured to the latter a considerable distance in advance of the pivot of the tongue, whereby the latter is supported and held against lateral movement, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the tongue provided with side pieces, the front hounds and the transverse pivot-rod, of the straps or bars secured to the side pieces of the tongue and to the hounds, and having perforations to receive the rod and provided with enlargements, one of the enlargements at each side of the tongue being recessed to receive the other enlargement and the latter being rounded, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination with a tongue having side pieces, hounds, and a transverse pivotrod, of the straps or bars secured to the side pieces and provided at their rear portions with enlargem ents having rounded front ends, and the straps or bars secured to the hounds and provided in advance of the pivot-rods with enlargements having rounded bearingrecesses receiving the-adjacent ends of the said enlargements, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a tongue having side pieces, hounds, and a transverse pivot rod, of the straps or bars 45, secured to and conforming to the configuration of the side pieces of the tongues and provided at their rear portions with enlargements having rounded front ends and straps or bars 46 arranged on the inner and outer edges of the hounds and provided in advance of the pivotrods with enlargements having bearing-recesses receiving the rounded ends of the enlargements'of the straps or bars 45, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WALTER N. MEOKLAN.

Witnesses:

CLIFFORD L. BEARE, WALTER N. MECKLAN. 

